Spare Rib Pork Chops with Creme Fraiche Potatoes and Charred Fennel & Apple Salad

Serves 2

Takes 35 minutes

The English spare rib chops are a particular favourite with our Founder, Tim Wilson – all the toothsome, richness of a rib with an eye of tender meat and intermuscular fat keeping everything wonderfully succulent. This is a wonderful recipe for summer barbeques yet sadly, spare rib pork chops have always been rather underrated but when done well, they truly are a glorious cut of meat.

1. 1 hour before you want to cook, rub the smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt all over the pork chops, brush with a little oil on both sides so everything is nicely coated. This makes for a quick and simple marinade.
2. Set a skillet on a medium heat, once just beginning to smoke, carefully place in the spare rib chops, fry for 5 minutes on one side then flip, fry for a further 2 minutes then add in the knob of butter and cook for another 2 minutes, begin basting the butter over the chops, flip again and do the same, basting for a final 2 minutes. The butter creates a lovely golden crust on the chops and enrichens the flavour. Remove from the pan and set aside, cover with foil and leave to rest whilst you get on with the rest. Keep those pan juices for drizzling later.
3. Boil the baby potatoes in well-salted water for 6-7 minutes until tender, drain and allow to cool slightly, if some are a little larger than others, cut them in half so they are all a similar size. Whilst still slightly warm, toss them in a bowl along with the crème fraiche, dill, chives, gherkins, salt and lemon zest. Adjust the seasonings to your taste at this stage. Set aside.
4. Set a separate skillet or pan on a high heat and when smoking, add in the fennel slices. You don’t want any oil, as they need to begin to char and soften as opposed to frying. This will take some of rawness away and help sweeten it slightly. Once they have coloured to your liking, take off the heat and transfer to a bowl and add in the apple slices. In a small separate bowl, combine the garlic, honey, mustard, oil, apple cider vinegar and salt, whisk well so it becomes a light dressing and pour over the apple and cider. Toss well to combine.
5. The pork chops should now be well rested – you want to serve these room temperate not piping hot. Serve alongside the creamy potatoes and the zingy apple and fennel salad, drizzle some of the cooking juices from the pan over the pork chops. Finish with a few extra fronds of dill, eat al fresco for a wonderful summer supper, enjoy!

Note: These spare rib pork chops and fennel would also work wonderfully on the barbeque, cooked for a similar amount of time!

• 2 thick cut, spare rib pork chops (ask your butcher to do this)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Olive oil
• Knob of butter

For the Crème Fraiche Potatoes:

• 200g baby potatoes
• 2 tbsp crème fraiche
• 2 gherkins, diced
• Small handful of dill, roughly chopped
• Small handful of chives, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Zest of ½ lemon

For the Charred Fennel & Apple Salad:

• 1 fennel, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 apple, thinly sliced into match sticks (ideally sweet, we used a jazz apple)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tbsp grain mustard
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt